Thursday, March 4, 2010
And then there was one lesbian
Posted By Jesse Fruhwirth on March 4, 2010, 2:15 PM
Just a few months ago, Utah had three openly gay or lesbian state legislators, but within a few more months, there will be just one.---
Rep. Christine Johnson, of Salt Lake City, announced today she will not run for reelection. Rumors that she was leaving the legislature were interrupted a few months ago by the much juicier rumors--later confirmed true--that she was knocked up with some gay-male couple's baby. Former Sen. Scott McCoy, gay, quit last year (and was replaced by queer-friendly Mormon Ben McAdams).Utah's last remaining lesbian in the Legislature, Rep. Jackie Biskupski, has traditionally been less visible and less likely to be raising a ruckus over gay rights.
So where does that leave queer Utahns?
Eh, it could be worse. According to Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund spokesman Denis Dison, six states don't have a single gay or lesbian in any elected office on any government level. Victory Fund gives money to queer candidates nationwide.
Those states that don't have a single queer elected to any office (city councils, etc) get top priority from Victory Fund. Dison says the group next prioritizes states that don't have any state legislators who identify by L, G, B, or T. Since Utah has several queer elected officials, and still one lesbian state legislator, Utah won't move up or down in Victory Fund's priority funding list.
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